5 ms·

There is no “done”: Reflections on a completed Appalachian Trail thru-hike (2022)

68 points by mooreds 2mo ago

reindeer2 2mo ago
This mirrors the 'post-launch blues' in software engineering, where the mental shift from active problem-solving to maintenance feels like a loss of purpose. The author's point about the trail being a series of immediate physical constraints is why these hikes are so addictive for people in high-abstraction fields like security or math. Once the external structure of the trail is gone, you're forced to re-internalize the discipline that was previously enforced by the terrain.
- jancsika 2mo ago
  Seems like just sitting with one's feelings for 5 minutes a night would amortize the cost of those "blues" over the full length of the hike. End of trip for non-amortized blues: OMG my sudden lack of trail-purpose is casting a 100 foot high shadow over my entire existence. Help! End of trip for amortized blues: Ah this feels familiar, and a bit heavy. Gonna head home and read a book. Edit: I'd bet the physical exhaustion from hiking would even aid in accessing said feelings. Synergy, baby!
- farrelle25 2mo ago
  > ... series of immediate physical constraints is why these hikes are so addictive for people in high-abstraction fields That really hit home. I work in data analysis but in the early 2000s did a 4-month cycle in Australia and a 7-month walking pilgrimage in Europe. Since then, I've become addicted to walking for a few months every few years. Love the physical challenge of moving across the landscape. But 'suffer' when I return to abstract data work. Feels like a loss of purpose etc... thanks for that insight... Never thought of it in that way...
  - jakeydus 2mo ago
    Do you find jobs that allow you to take sabbatical? Or do you leave jobs and find new ones for each expedition you do?
m463 2mo ago
Subject didn't make sense. 'at' should be 'AT' or 'A.T.' = Appalachian Trail
kyletraff 2mo ago
Thank you for the article. I appreciate its authenticity, and I really hope you continue to find peace and healing with your dad‘s passing. Experiences like this amplify what I think is our longing for permanence and I think CS Lewis sums it up well when he says “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” Even the longest trails on this side of eternity must end at some point. But I think they point us to something more eternal and lasting, something our hearts all long for.
Remnant44 2mo ago
This was an unexpected find on HN but I found it very moving. Good writing lets you do something that is almost impossible otherwise; to get a glimpse inside someone else's mind and experience, the thing that is forever hidden from us unassisted. I think it's all too easy to view other humans almost like NPCs, and most of the interactions we have in our day to day life reinforce this. You interact with the grocery checker, the waiter, even unfortunately sometimes your loved ones, and those interactions are 'on rails', following a script. What a nice change of pace from AI-written linked-in articles.
- hulitu 2mo ago
  > Good writing American writing. They need 20 pages till they get to the subject.
  - toader 2mo ago
    Awfully broad stroke assertion of an entire country of authors. The prose of Ernest Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy and Kurt Vonnegut contradict your comment. Which countries are known for their concise use of language in storytelling?
    - CookiesOnMyDesk 2mo ago
      In my experience McCarthy can spend an entire book without getting to the subject.
      - toader 2mo ago
        Fair enough...meandering prose with minimal punctuation.
  - goodmythical 2mo ago
    Sure, because the oddysey, illiad, war and peace, ulysses, the other war and peace, the grapes of wrath etc are so much more concise than the great gatsby and to kill a mockingbird.
bwl 2mo ago
Great read! Looks like she just published a memoir too: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/748921/all-thats-unseen-by-emilee-hackney/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/748921/all-thats-un...
sgarland 2mo ago
Hiking — in mountains in particular - is magical. I’ve yet to do more than an overnight backpack, but every time I’m out, I’m so at peace. The only explanation I’ve come up with is that mountains are massive, immovable forces of nature that do not care if you exist, and to be around that is humbling. Excellent article, and great writing that’s sadly absent nowadays.

68 points by mooreds 2mo ago

This mirrors the 'post-launch blues' in software engineering, where the mental shift from active problem-solving to maintenance feels like a loss of purpose. The author's point about the trail being a series of immediate physical constraints is why these hikes are so addictive for people in high-abstraction fields like security or math. Once the external structure of the trail is gone, you're forced to re-internalize the discipline that was previously enforced by the terrain.

jancsika 2mo ago
Seems like just sitting with one's feelings for 5 minutes a night would amortize the cost of those "blues" over the full length of the hike. End of trip for non-amortized blues: OMG my sudden lack of trail-purpose is casting a 100 foot high shadow over my entire existence. Help! End of trip for amortized blues: Ah this feels familiar, and a bit heavy. Gonna head home and read a book. Edit: I'd bet the physical exhaustion from hiking would even aid in accessing said feelings. Synergy, baby!
farrelle25 2mo ago
> ... series of immediate physical constraints is why these hikes are so addictive for people in high-abstraction fields That really hit home. I work in data analysis but in the early 2000s did a 4-month cycle in Australia and a 7-month walking pilgrimage in Europe. Since then, I've become addicted to walking for a few months every few years. Love the physical challenge of moving across the landscape. But 'suffer' when I return to abstract data work. Feels like a loss of purpose etc... thanks for that insight... Never thought of it in that way...
- jakeydus 2mo ago
  Do you find jobs that allow you to take sabbatical? Or do you leave jobs and find new ones for each expedition you do?

m463 2mo ago

Subject didn't make sense. 'at' should be 'AT' or 'A.T.' = Appalachian Trail

kyletraff 2mo ago

Thank you for the article. I appreciate its authenticity, and I really hope you continue to find peace and healing with your dad‘s passing. Experiences like this amplify what I think is our longing for permanence and I think CS Lewis sums it up well when he says “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” Even the longest trails on this side of eternity must end at some point. But I think they point us to something more eternal and lasting, something our hearts all long for.

Remnant44 2mo ago

This was an unexpected find on HN but I found it very moving. Good writing lets you do something that is almost impossible otherwise; to get a glimpse inside someone else's mind and experience, the thing that is forever hidden from us unassisted. I think it's all too easy to view other humans almost like NPCs, and most of the interactions we have in our day to day life reinforce this. You interact with the grocery checker, the waiter, even unfortunately sometimes your loved ones, and those interactions are 'on rails', following a script. What a nice change of pace from AI-written linked-in articles.

hulitu 2mo ago
> Good writing American writing. They need 20 pages till they get to the subject.
- toader 2mo ago
  Awfully broad stroke assertion of an entire country of authors. The prose of Ernest Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy and Kurt Vonnegut contradict your comment. Which countries are known for their concise use of language in storytelling?
  - CookiesOnMyDesk 2mo ago
    In my experience McCarthy can spend an entire book without getting to the subject.
    - toader 2mo ago
      Fair enough...meandering prose with minimal punctuation.
- goodmythical 2mo ago
  Sure, because the oddysey, illiad, war and peace, ulysses, the other war and peace, the grapes of wrath etc are so much more concise than the great gatsby and to kill a mockingbird.

bwl 2mo ago

Great read! Looks like she just published a memoir too: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/748921/all-thats-unseen-by-emilee-hackney/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/748921/all-thats-un...

sgarland 2mo ago

Hiking — in mountains in particular - is magical. I’ve yet to do more than an overnight backpack, but every time I’m out, I’m so at peace. The only explanation I’ve come up with is that mountains are massive, immovable forces of nature that do not care if you exist, and to be around that is humbling. Excellent article, and great writing that’s sadly absent nowadays.